Bo was always trail boss

November 22, 2006|BOB CHMIEL Special to The Tribune

Editor's note: Bob Chmiel, who still lives in South Bend, is a former assistant football coach at the University of Michigan and the University of Notre Dame. I basically spent 15 years of my life with Bo Schembechler. Next to my family he was the greatest influence upon me as a man. I loved Bo and will always remember him with deep respect and affection. I always told people he was all the man there ever was. With news of his death, many memories rushed to mind. One Friday afternoon many years ago, I received a call from Ann Arbor. It was Bo. I was coaching high school football in Chicago at the time and in the summers worked the Michigan football camp. The voice on the other end of the call did not suggest an interview or a decision to be made after an offer. It was more of a summons to come to Michigan and join Bo as a member of his staff. That call changed my life. In all candor the call went like this: "Chmiel, be here on Sunday ready to go. We start August meetings on that day." I really never thought I would ever leave Chicago, but there was just something about him that made me believe that this was the right move. I wanted to coach college football. Many years have passed since that call, but I always stayed in touch with him. On his birthday, April 1, I would call and let him know that I have been very fortunate personally as well as professionally, and that as I leave my home each day I know what I have I owe to him. He always responded by telling me to "shut up." I would respond with, "I love ya coach!" Like any other highly visible national sporting figure, Bo has his detractors, but my insights of him were from a close personal observation. As a head coach he was fair and his mangement style was great -- it was basically him at the top and then all the rest of us. All of the rest of us were anyone involved with the football program, from the assistant head coach to a freshmen walk-on. We were all treated the same. On the practice field, when one of my guys did not perform to Bo's expectations, I received the same "encouragement" as my players. That fairness from a leader is the ultimate of expectation from any assistant coach. Bo would receive calls from the highest level of government, as well as from barons of industry and celebrities, yet the only calls he permitted his secretary to interrupt a meeting for were those from former players. One day he gave me one of the A No. 7 blue jersey was stuck to the frosted ground next to a No. 12 white jersey. In between was Schembechler's signature hat, featuring a block 'M' with yellow stitching. "I just wanted to come out and give my respects to the greatest coach who ever lived," said Tom Catterall, 51, of Ypsilanti. "He was revered as a coach separate from the University of Michigan and as a man. I thought a man like this -- the only way to honor him was to come out on a cold day like this and pay my respects." A private funeral was held Monday. A day earlier, hundreds of mourners filed past Schembechler's casket at an Ann Arbor church. Football-shaped balloons were taped on the Schembechler Hall sign. In front of it, a white candle flickered. Someone left a ticket stub from the Ball State game Nov. 4 -- the last time Schembechler watched a Michigan game in person. It carried the message: "RIP Bo Thanks Terry and Mike" written on it with a black marker. Schembechler coached at Michigan from 1969-89, ending his career with 194 wins at what is college football's winningest program. His career record was 234-65-8, including six seasons at Miami of Ohio.